Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-06-03
THE ART OF READING.



IT'S Requirement.
There is an art OF reading, although
many who read never master It; an art
to be acquired, as all arts arc acquired,
by long and patient practice. Those
who learn this art not only read books,
but remember thom; not only gain the
enjoyment Of the first keen impression
Of n writer's style and thought, but
make his thinking part Of their own
intellectual possession forever after.
There are people who arc continually
making the casual acquaintance OF
books, but never establish relations Of
enduring friendship aud intimacy with
them. They recall books as they them
from time to time, but they do not re-
call what they once knew Of them.
There is contact, but no cohesion.
between such reader and the books that
have passed under his eye. This kind
of superficial knowledge with literary
works is not without its advantages, but
it misses entirely the deeper and richer
results of reading; it retains II vague
recollection instead of the vitality, I'M
pulse and power Of another's mental
struggles and achievements.
The art Of reading for mastery OF
what one reads Les in concentration Of
attention. The trained reader finds no
difficulty in abstracting himself from
the noise and crowd of the horse car
and putting all his mind on the printed
page before him. For the moment
More's Utopia" or the marvellous
island where Prospero works his spells
Is more real to him than the people or
the scene actually about him. Every
body who frequents bookstores has no.
ticed men who have fallen on some
curious or unfamiliar book, and arc
straightway obvious of every thing else.
They have for the moment escaped
from the rush OF the tides of life around
them, and found quiet of thought, at
once restful and inspiring. All the
great scholars have mastered this art Of
concentration; it is the secret Of their
achievements. No one can read Ben
Jonson's plays and Mosques. so full OF
allusion and the resource of scholar
ship; or Millions splendid prose, en-
riched with the spoils of all ages; or
Gray's few but lasting contributions 20
English verse, so pervaded with the
scholars spirit, without recognizing be-
hind these noblest achievements Of mind
and art training so sustained and pro-
longed as to add certain nobility OF
character to the work Of the imagina-
ton.
To acquire this art OF concentration.
commence with the first good book that
comes TO hand. Read and re-read its
pages until you find yourself absorbed
In them; until you have forgotten that
there is any thing in the world but the
book and its reader. Your thought
will probably wander at the start and
for long time after. Your attention
will be diverted by trifles around youi
the least noise or motion will lift your
eve from the line before it; so Il has
been with every one who began to learn
how TO abstract himself from his sur
roundings and 10 concentrate himself
upon the thing in hand, and so it will
be TO the very end of time. The trained
mind is separated from these first irres-
olute and feeble efforts by one thing
only-practicc. To learn tho art OF
concentration one must concentrate his
mind again and again, patiently and
resolutely, until. little by little, his Of
fort becomes habit When tho habit is
formed the mind has received its im-
pulse, and win do its work with increas-
ing case and efficiency, until ono is no
longer conscious OF effort or resolution
or labor. Christian Union,